The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) release a special report today, “Outing the Oligarchy: Billionaires Who Benefit from Today’s Climate Crisis, which identifies the world’s wealthiest 50 individuals whose investments benefit from climate change and whose influence networks block efforts to phase out pollution from fossil fuels. continue reading…

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Durban, South Africa, between 28 November and 9 December 2011, represents a critical moment in the international climate change negotiations. continue reading…

Barcelona, 21^st November 2011. A new report released today by GAIA – Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, reveals serious flaws in CDM-backed Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) projects. Most of these projects support incineration technology to burn waste and landfill gas systems (LFG) to bury waste, which ultimately increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and displace informal workers communities’ livelihoods, amongst other problems. By buying CDM carbon credits from these projects, the EU is contradicting its own policies on waste management, which prioritize recycling, pollution controls and waste diversion from landfills. The report calls for a EU ban on CDM carbon credits in the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). continue reading…

Here are some highlights of the forecasts for the future from the 2011 SREX report:

- A 1-in-20 year hottest day is at least 66% likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions, except in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, where it is likely to become a 1-in-5 year event. continue reading…

Please find below important news and articles from the press.

ASEAN stance on economic capitalism must be bold

“Cap and Trade Will Fail”: An Interview with Alegria de la Cruz of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment

Time Running Out to Curb Global Warming, Watchdog Warns

By Michael Szabo and Jeff Coelho (published in  www.pointcarbon.com)

EU carbon prices could crash to as low as 3 euros as the 27-nation bloc struggles with a mounting debt crisis and the market remains oversupplied with permits until 2025, analysts at UBS said late on Thursday.

The Swiss investment bank also said the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) “isn’t working” because carbon prices are “already too low to have any significant environmental impact.” continue reading…

By Jeff Coelho

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) – European Union carbon prices could shed some 70 percent from current levels, as the bloc struggles with a mounting debt crisis and a glut of supply in the carbon market is unlikely to disappear until 2025, analysts at UBS said.

The investment bank also said the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS), the 27-nation bloc’s main policy tool to fight global warming, “isn’t working” because carbon prices are “already too low to have any significant environmental impact.” continue reading…

By Ben Sills

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Fossil-fuel consumers worldwide received about six times more state subsidies last year than were given to the renewable-energy industry, according to the chief adviser to oil-importing nations.

Aid to cut the price of gasoline, gas and coal rose by more than a third to $409 billion as global energy prices increased, compared with $66 billion of support for biofuels, wind power and solar energy, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said today in its World Energy Outlook. continue reading…

By Catherine Airlie

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) — Greenhouse-gas emissions per unit of production among the Group of 20 nations grew for the first time since 2004 last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed for climate change, from G-20 countries increased 5.8 percent in 2010, a faster rate than the 5.1 percent growth in the group’s gross domestic product, the London-based consultant said in an e-mailed report today. continue reading…